2024-03-16 18:03:28
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A Holly Springs man who works as a TSA agent at Raleigh Durham International Airport was arrested as part of a sex trafficking sting.
“You know the guy that you gotta go through the line at the airports, this is him,” said Sheriff Grady Judd during a press conference.
Man sentenced to 20 years in prison following traveling to North Carolina for sex acts with child in sting operation
Edmundo Dasilva
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office in Florida announced that 37-year-old Edmundo Dasilva sent a social media message in response to an ad posted on Reddit by an undercover detective.
Court records show the undercover agent was posing as a human trafficker who was offering their foster daughter, a fictitious 15-year-old, for commercial sex acts. Text messages included in those records show the suspect told the undercover detective he and the teen might “make out then maybe go from there”.
“He thought he was going to pay $100 to dad to have sex with his daughter, well it so happens dad and daughter are undercover folks. But what did we do? We saved children from being victims,” Judd said.
According to the sheriff’s office, Dasilva told the undercover detective he would be traveling through Florida and would like to meet. He informed the detective he just turned 18 years old.
Arrest affidavits claim Dasilva met the undercover detective at an undisclosed hotel where he handed the detective $60 in cash. Dasilva was arrested as he entered the room detectives say he believed the teen was staying.
After Dasilva was arrested, the sheriff said he told investigators he was there to try and help the 15-year-old, ‘Hey, I’ve had TSA training and I was here to do my own investigation’.
The PCSO says two condoms were found in the suspect’s pockets at the time of his arrest.
According to PCSO, Dasilva told detectives that he is married and that he works for Homeland Security as a Transportation Security Officer.
Dasilva was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with human trafficking, use of a computer to solicit a guardian, and traveling to meet a minor.
1710612933
#North #Carolina #TSA #agent #charged #sting #Florida #sex #minor